Community garden opens at Cloverdale Fairgrounds

A new community garden has been built at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds, on the south side of the Cloverdale Rec Centre. The Cloverdale Community Association says it will use the garden to train the public and help address food insecurity.

An opening ceremony is scheduled for noon on Sept. 11 and the public is invited. The project is a collaboration with Simon Fraser University and Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Institute for Sustainable Food Systems.

The association and ISFS will offer eight Saturday workshops during the fall, starting Sept. 12. Each course has space for 12 participants. Six free spaces per session are reserved equally for newcomers through Storehouse Community Hub Society, Indigenous people and people with the Surrey Association for Community Living. The other six spaces are open to the public for $20 each through Eventbrite.

Sessions run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and cover subjects including fall-garden planning, garlic, Indigenous foodways, watering, soil health, extending the growing season, harvesting and fruit trees. The association has a two-year agreement with the city to operate the garden and funding through the end of 2026; it will seek a new funding model for 2027 programming.